Laughing in the Face of Death
by ForbiddenDreams13
Summary: Botan loves horror games. Kurama? Not so much...


**And I rise again! I love the summer season, well kind of. I like all the extra time I get, but I hate the heat. At any rate, since my latest one-shot as rather dark and somewhat terrible, I've decided to lighten the mood and play around with an idea I've had locked up in my head for FAR too long. Seriously, it's all grown up and is working as an accountant now…man how time flies.**

 **Notes: Slight OOC on Kurama's account as well as Botan's.**

 **Please read and enjoy!**

* * *

Left, right, left, right, left, right…honestly it was amazing he didn't have a headache from all the head-turning. A light flickered to life just outside the door, giving one short buzz before it died in favor of keeping as much power as possible. Darkness reclaimed the opening, providing more than enough cover for his adversaries. From somewhere deep within the labyrinth of shadowed corridors came a distorted laugh, followed by a loud clanking and whirring. Kurama tensed. That wasn't good. Turning to the left, Kurama hit the light for that door. The sudden electric blaze flooded the corridor, illuminating the walls, tile…

And the gaunt, leering face of a large, purple animatronic rabbit. A bolt of fear shot through him, and before his brain could even give the command, Kurama slammed the door down. Out in the halls, the laughter sounded again. A quick glance at the clock revealed the time to be one a.m. Another tap of the light revealed the robot rabbit's shadow just outside the door. Kurama cursed. The damn thing was still there! Running a hand through his hair, Kurama turned away. No big deal. He could handle that…maybe. Checking the right-hand door revealed an empty hall. Just one. Good, he could handle just the one.

"Or so I would say," he flicked the left light on, revealing a long-eared silhouette, "If he would _leave s_ ometime soon!"

Loud shuffling noises drew his attention. Whipping around, Kurama flipped on the light and discovered a bright yellow chicken waiting outside the door, face frozen in a psychotic grin. Yelping, Kurama shut the other door. Okay, okay, not good. No, not good at all, not with two of them lurking outside the office. His heart began to slam against his ribs. _No, no. I'm fine, everything's fine. The clock just struck two, I can handle this._ He glanced down at the power meter and could only gape as he read the number: fifty-five percent.

"A-are you kidding?!" He growled, "fifty-five percent? Why? It's only two a.m., come on!" a shaky breath slithered out. Once more, Kurama tapped the lights, and much to his chagrin, neither rabbit nor chicken had vacated. The fox gritted his teeth. A cold chill ran down his spine. What would happen if the power ran down and they were still out there? Oh God, he did not want to find out…

"Seriously guys," he said, flipping up the camera, "it's only the second night. Chill out, there's no reason to be-" His sentence fell short when the camera brought up Pirate's Cove. The curtains had been flung open, revealing the out-of-order sign, a darkened interior, and no robot fox.

The arrow became a white blur, flying all over the map, while the camera repeatedly fuzzed in and out, showing room after room, each one empty.

"What the hell? Where are y-oh good God!" Kurama couldn't help but jump a little when he saw Foxy sprint down the hall, broken jaw bouncing, and headed straight for his office. _What do I do? Just what the heck do I do?! There's no way I can react fast enough to-_

A loud thumping tore the fox demon out of his frantic train of thought. Confused, he lowered the camera and was greeted with the pleasant sight of two closed doors and an empty office. Relief washed over him. Thank God for the ability to close doors! _Speaking of which…_

White light spasmed out into the halls. No one on left, and no one on the right. The doors flew back up to their original positions, opening up to the amazing sight of nothing. Buried deep beneath the tumult of anxiety, a tiny golden flame of hope took its first breath. Only to die beneath the crushing realization that it was just three a.m. and he only had twenty percent power. Kurama blinked. Once. Twice.

"Well…" he said, leaning back, "I'm screwed."

As if to drive the point home, the rhythmic thumping of footsteps came from just beyond the doors. Kurama gulped. Did he dare check the camera? No, because that would waste power. The doors? Maybe, but he really couldn't afford to put them down. Then again, he couldn't afford to leave them up either. Was there anything out there, even? The ambient sounds were done so well, everything sounded like it came from right outside his door.

 _I'll never know unless I check,_ he thought, casting a glance over to the innocent little white button. Taking a deep breath and steeling himself, Kurama clicked the light. Once more, Bonnie could be seen peering in, eyes wide and a skeletal leer plastered on his face. Without any hesitation, Kurama hit the door.

Nothing.

Green eyes swelled like drops of ink on rice paper. He hit the button again. Still, the door would not descend. All he got was the hollow, rattling sound of a useless button being pressed.

"I don't…" he clicked the button again, "why is…why is nothing happening?!" Here, he began to spastically click the button, "why? Why? Why are you doing this? Why can't I close the door?" Finally, after countless clicks and still no closed door, Kurama sat back and took his hand off the mouse. He waited for a few moments, but the office remained empty and silent.

"Um…okay…guess I'll just check the camer-Oh sweet Jesus!" The last part of the fox's statement dissolved into a rather undignified shriek of terror; for no sooner had the camera been pulled up, it was slammed down to reveal Bonnie screaming right in his face. Like a frightened cat, he sprung back from the computer, whatever statement he had been meaning to make instead came out as a scrambled mess of noise. The screen flashed static where it proceeded to flip to 'Game Over', presenting the frazzled red head with the image of a Freddy Fazbear suit sitting slumped on a table mouth stretched wide in an empty, soulless grin and a pair of eyeballs dangling from the sockets of the fur-covered, metal skull.

Panting, Kurama placed his head in his hands. The frantic beat of his pulse was just beginning to slow while echoes of his hearts thunderous terrified roaring continued to beat softly in his ears.

"You okay there?"

Startled, Kurama spun around to find Botan sitting cross-legged on his bed. The Ferry Girl gave him a warm smile and a cheery wave, "What'cha doin'?" she asked, trying to peer around him. Still trying to repair his frayed nerves, Kurama could only stare at the reaper, wondering how she had gotten in without him knowing. Botan's smile morphed into a snarky grin and her eyes took on a feline gleam of mischief.

"Aw, did I scare you?" she giggled.

"What? Oh," Kurama cleared his throat, "no, no, of course not! …Okay, well you did a little bit, but…" he trailed off. For some reason it felt embarrassing to tell Botan he'd been freaked out by a mere computer game. He sat up, blocking the monitor from an inquisitive Botan who by now was leaning at almost a forty-five degree angle in attempt to see the computer behind him, "To what do I owe the pleasure?" he asked, in an attempt to change the subject. Sure, Botan was a good friend, but she also had a mouth bigger than Bonnie's. If word got out about Kurama of all people being scared by computer-animated animals, he'd never live it down. He did have an image to uphold after all.

"I just dropped by to say hello and see how you were doing. And by the look of things," here she leaned over again, trying to get a glimpse of the hidden screen, "I'd say you're a little jumpy." She said, giggling again.

"And what makes you say that?" Kurama asked.

"'I'll just check the camer-Oh sweet Jesus!'" Botan mimicked, snickering.

The fox demon couldn't help but face-palm, "So you heard that, huh?"

"Oh I popped in right when you started talking to yourself. I was surprised you didn't hear your window opening. You must have been really focused on what you were doing, which by the way, you still haven't told me."

Well focused was certainly one word for it. Then again, what another might have been, he had no idea. Desperate maybe? Yeah, that worked. Desperate was indeed a word that could be used to describe the…"adventure" that was Five Nights at Freddy's.

"Just playing a game." he said.

Curiosity sparkled in Botan's eyes, "Really, what game?"

"Uh, well it's a horror game, and-"

"Oh my gosh, I love those!" Botan squealed, clapping her hands together.

Kurama frowned. Had he seriously just heard what he thought he did? "You like horror games?"

"Yeah," the bluenette exclaimed, "they're so cool! The _Silent Hill_ games were pretty awesome. _Fatal Frame_ and _F.E.A.R_. were pretty interesting too, the latter wasn't really my cup of tea though. Of course, the best horror games are indie games," by now she was bouncing on the bed, eyes aglow and grinning from ear to ear. If Kurama didn't know any better, he would have thought she was some high school girl gushing over a homeroom crush

Botan continued, the stars in her eyes shining so bright, they almost obscured her pupils, "I mean some of them are bad, but the vast majority of them are done quite well. You've got Ib. Mad Father, Paranoiac, The Crooked Man and The Witch's House if you're into RPG-style games. If not, there's the Slender games, Vanish, Amnesia and all of its various mods…oh! And then there's _Outlast_ ," her giddy grin turned devilish, "that one is my absolute favorite!"

Kurama stared at the Ferry Girl, open-mouthed. Botan loved horror games. Botan. Chipper, happy-go-lucky, girly Botan loved horror games?! Botan? _Seriously?!_

With a glance over his shoulder at the computer, Kurama commented, "then I suppose you've played Five Nights at Freddy's?"

Botan's shoulder's slumped, "No. I keep forgetting to download it. Plus, between trying to get through _Outlast: Whistleblower_ and all the assignment's Koenma's been throwing at me, I just don't have the time. It's been ticking me off too, because now there's two other FNAF games out, and I'm falling more and more behind. "

"Well, if you have the time now, and it's not too much trouble, I have the game. Would you like-"

"You have Five Nights at Freddy's?!" interrupted Botan. Her eyes swelled to the size of dinner plates. The bright ocular stars of excitement became miniature suns, making her eyes glow a shade of purple so bright, it bordered on neon. It was as if Kurama had told her he as best friends with a famous celebrity.

Dumbfounded, Kurama nodded, and stood up, gesturing towards the computer, "You're more than welcome to play if you'd like." He told her.

Botan shot towards the computer like a high-speed bullet. Static fuzzed the screen once more as Botan sat down, flashing back to the way it had been when Kurama booted up the game. Freddy gazed out from behind a thin curtain of static, his endoskeleton appearing in short, twitching bursts. Botan grinned back at the possessed robot while Kurama averted his eyes.

"You can go ahead and start a new game if you'd like," Kurama said, taking great pains not to look at the haunted animatronic.

"Are you sure?" Botan asked, glancing over her shoulder.

"It's fine. I only got to the second night anyway."

"Aw."

He could feel his masculinity chipping away at that comment. Heedless of her statement, Botan tapped the enter key, and a new game began. Botan let out another squeal of excitement as the announcement of the first night flashed on the screen. With an electric buzz, the office sprung up on the screen, all bright lights and colors, complete with the obnoxious poster whose message Kurama now found to be quite condescending.

"This is going to be so much fun!" Botan clapped her hands together, "I can't wait for one of them to show up!"

The fox's jaw bounced off the floor.

* * *

"That was so much fun! Thank you so much!"

"No problem. I can't believe you made it all the way to the fourth night."

The two of them were sitting downstairs at the kitchen table. Two glasses of iced tea sat on the table, beads of condensation sliding down onto the table. Kurama took a sip from his glass. Across the table, Botan quirked her eyebrow at the demon.

"Really? I didn't think that was odd. Maybe they just like me!"

 _Maybe, because they certainly hated me. Bonnie especially…_

"And Bonnie! Bonnie was so cute!"

Kurama almost choked on his tea.

Unaware of her friend's shock, Botan continued, "Personally I think he looks better with his endoskeleton eyes as opposed to his normal ones. It makes him look freakier, you know? Those black, empty pools of evil just staring into your soul through the camera. The second game made him look even better!"

"I thought you said you hadn't played that one."

"You're right, I hadn't," she replied, "but I watched the teaser trailer when it came out. Mr. Cawthorne really outdid himself on Bonnie's design that time around."

Already regretting the question, Kurama asked, "What does Bonnie look like in the second game?"

"He's faceless!" chirped Botan.

Kurama's eye twitched, "faceless?" he echoed.

"Yep! All that's left is this mess of wires with these piercing red eyes peering out at the player. His bottom jaw's still there though, complete with two rows of long teeth."

Red eyes? Long teeth? _Two rows?_

Botan smiled at Kurama, "isn't that so cool?"

Kurama didn't answer. The mental image of a faceless, red-eyed, demonic Bonnie stalking the halls of the pizzeria sent chill after chill down his spine. After a long moment of silence, Kurama glanced over at the bluenette.

"Botan?"

"Yeah?"

"You want my computer?"

* * *

 **So yeah, OOC all around. In my mind, I can see Kurama being freaked out or at least somewhat unnerved by most horror games as the general theme seen in most games is the feeling of helplessness, where the only things you can do are either run from the monsters, or pray they don't get near you. For someone like Kurama, who is never without a weapon, either his or make-shift (as Hiei said he can turn weeds along the street into blades), I can imagine this would be a very upsetting scenario.** **Wonder how he'd fair with** _ **Outlast**_ **.**


End file.
